Four Russian nationals abroad suspected of false phone bomb

MOSCOW - 6 October 2017: False bomb threats in Russia that have prompted mass evacuations across the country were made by four nationals who were operating from abroad, Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), told reporters on Thursday.

Bortnikov said that four people in charge of the false bomb threats are Russians who are currently abroad, and they have "accomplices who are on the territory of the country," Sputnik reported.

According to the FSB chief, damages incurred by false bomb threats so far amount to over 300 million rubles (some $5.2 million).

A wave of "phone terrorism" has been disrupting life in Russia since September 11 and continues to this day. Neither of the claims had been confirmed after the law enforcement had examined the buildings. On Thursday, a law enforcement source told Sputnik that the calls had been made from abroad by persons associated with the Daesh.

According to a Sputnik source in Russia's emergency services, nearly 800,000 people were evacuated in 120 Russian cities through this period as over 1,900 buildings were allegedly "mined," but in no case, the threat of explosions had been confirmed.